Hannah of Rise and Shine was our October 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she challenged us to bake our own double crusted savory pot pies. Using any from-scratch crust and filling we choose, we were allowed to get completely creative with our recipe, showing off the savory flavors and fillings from our own home or region.

Almost every Australian enjoys a meat pie. It could almost be our National Dish! More often found as single serve pies, the Australian meat pie generally is meat diced or minced with gravy. However different varieties of pies are now becoming common – curry, steak and kidney, bacon, mince with cheese, chicken or seafood pies. Our hand held meat pie is customary at football or cricket games. So when Hannah of Rise and Shine issued the October Daring Bakers challenge I was excited! I love making meat pies and have made many over the years of raising a family but calling it a “pot pie” and using different ingredients was new to me.

So one evening with chicken thighs thawed and ready for a great Thai curry I had a change of heart. A quick peak into the fridge revealed some bacon and a packet of baby spinach. And so the Chicken, Bacon and Spinach Pot Pie was born! And I’m glad it was, it is delicious and was appreciated by all the family. This is going to become a favourite. Thank you Hannah for the inspiration and for hosting the October Daring Bakers Challenge.

Chicken, Bacon and Spinach Pot Pie

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 kg chicken thighs, cubed

185g bacon, diced

45g butter

1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour

1 heaped teaspoon tomato paste

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

150g baby spinach, chopped coarsely

1 cup grated tasty, melting cheese, I used Colby

2 sheets pre-rolled frozen puff pastry, thawed

Pastry for base

2 cups plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

pinch salt

110g butter, cubed

1 egg, separated

1-2 tablespoons iced water

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and when hot saute the onion and garlic for a few minutes until softened. Add chicken and bacon and fry, stirring regularly until chicken is no longer pink. Remove to a plate.

Add butter, flour and tomato paste. Fry off for a minute or two. Add in the chicken stock, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and thyme stirring well to avoid lumps. Bring to the boil and thicken slightly. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Return chicken mixture to the pan and add spinach. Mix well and allow to cool. When cool stir in cheese.

While the filling is cooling make the pasty base. Place flour, baking powder, salt and butter into the bowl of a food processor with the metal bade inserted. Pulse until the mixture is crumbly. While the machine is running add the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water through the chute. Add a little more water if necessary to bring the mixture together. Remove pastry from bowl and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.

Heat oven to 210C. Remove pastry from refrigerator and roll out to fit a 23cm deep pie plate. Use the remaining beaten egg white to brush over the pastry base. Fill with chicken mixture.

Top with thawed puff pastry joining to pieces if necessary. Press edges to join base and top pastry well. Decorate as desired. Brush with any remaining egg white.